Governor for steam-driven compressors



. sept. 20,1927. "1,643,129

W. RAYMOND GOVERNOR FOR STEAM DRIVEN COMPRESSORS Filed Nov. 6, '1925gvwentoz Patented sept. 20,1927.

f Y' l 1,643,129

l-Un1r En es; i or Fic E.,

WARD RAYMOND, or nAsroN,*rENNsYLvANIA; nssIeNon TO'PENNSYLVANIA PUivriJ4Ann oomrnnsson coivrrnivy, or Ees'rongrnrmsnvnivim n" eonronerioiv or14PENNSYLVANA.

#Govnnivonieon STEAM-naiven ooiriinii'ss'on's.

Applieaten ledlNovember 6, 1925. serial No., 67,31@

.i This inventionrelates' to compressors and in particular to a governorfor an air com# vpresser or r vacuum pump jdirectly driven from asteainjengine..

An object ofthe present'-1 Aprovide anr improyed formY of governor for asteam engine-directly connected tto" and I adapted to driveacompressor.l

Another ,object ofthe invention provide a throttlinggovernor of a steamengine with-means for closing, orpartly closing, the

, steam admitting valvenof` the engineivhen throttle the' steaniadmittedto the engineY the speedtof the enginefe'xc'eeds a predeterminedmaximum, when the receiver pressure exceeds a predetermined maximumWhile the compressor continues `ooperate under load,

and when theunloaders have operated to rey lease the load-fromtheg'compressor..

A. further .object ofthe invention is tofpirovide three rindependently:operating means for controlling the position of the steam supplyingvalve of lan enginey to regulate ythe amount of steam supplied tooperate a cn'npressor.

And finally itis anobjectof the invention to provide tvopressnrecontrolled regulating l meansfor a steam e-nginejvalve Which'inay beindependently controlled and adapted; to

down te predetermined limited amounts..v

IV ith `the above j and other 'objects of i the inventionin view, myinvention consist-s 1n the features ofconstizuction and operation setforth inthev followingspecification;and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing'.Y

In the accompanying drawing annexed hereto and' forming a .partofthisspecificatio'n, If have shown l.my inventiony embodied in a singlecylinder steamv driven compressor,

but it will bevr understood thatithe drawingk is notto `be yconstrued-asdefining/.or limiting the` scope of the inventionk thejclainis ap?pended to this specification-being reliedfupon forthatpurpose.. y

Invthedravvingp v Y y i v 'y Figure 1I isla side elevation'. of;Y acomplete f steam engine` compressor; having. the present K inventionapplied thereto..

Y' Fig; 2', va-'vievv inelevation of'ithe-Ithrotf `tling` valve ofasteam engineandjggovernor therefor; somepartsfbeingeehovvnin seetion,

and Y Fig. 3 is a plan view ini-seetiontalien?upon i f y f The were'invention is te y In the: above mentioned drawing, I have l may' bemadewithin the scope ofthe appended claims Withoutdeparting from thespiriti of the invention.`r` i Brieiy,vand in its broadest aspect, myvine vention comprises; the following principal parts: first, acompressor; second,"a'n un# loader of any preferred type therefor;third, ansteam engine coupled to the compressor; fourth, a steamVadmitting valve for said engine;` fifth, centrifugal speed governinfrmeans adapted to control' the position of said valve; sixth,l pressureoperatednieans to con;

trolthe position of the'valve and'connected to' the receiver o rdischarge opening ofY the compressor; seventh', pressure operated meansto control the position'of the lvalve and operated 1n connectionWiththe'unload# ingof the air cylinder;'and.eighth,v means to limit theclosingfniovement of, said valve When controlled by said' pressureoperated means.

Referringmore y the drawing, I 'show at lO a compressor ldi- Ythelintake is attached an unloader 14 which maybe similar to that describedinmy Pat- @ne '1,510,1engraneed sept. 30, 1924..

in detail to the figures of i 'rectlyf attached to, and operatedby asteam The engine 11 is provided `With'a steam supply'conduit ljhavingamain steam admission vvalve c asing'l. Vithin thecasing valvev17pr'eferably the balanced type, movable vertically to vary the openingto admit .steam tothe` engine inthefusual mannen@ A sshownfthe valvje`17 is on` the .am and "fe verticali me nasser through afsitablestufngfbpxf; (friet shoivn)` Se ,that ,vertical movement ofthe 18will vary the j'amunt of steamia mtted. toi the dertci 4@meti-91,thadiniSSLin'of4 steam rdailcew'itli the .Speedfef the eiig'ins ac n tfngzal g'Werrior, 1 9 o ffthe` fly-ball type i te. edaerhegupper eineramnesia. d toi lie-'driven ilo through bevel gears 2U trom the crankshaft 2lA et the engine bymeans et' a belt 22. lncreased speed of theengine cranlr shatt 2i causes the balls of the governor 19 to moveoutward and thus torce the rod 18 downward to close the valve 1T.Reduced speed causes the balls to move inward and so cause the rod 18 tomove upward and the valve 17 to open.

n the rod 1S is a collar 2i suitably 'tastened thereto. On. this collar2t rests one end oi a lever pivotally supported on the `trame26 ot thegovernor 19. This end ot the lever is .torlted so that it engages thecollar 24 on opposite sides ot the rod 18. lt will be seen vtroni thisconstruction that oscillation of the lever 25 will torce the rod 1Sdownwardto close the valve 1T but will not interfere with downwardmovement of the rod 1S by the action oit the centrifugal governor 19.

To oscillate the lever to 'force the rod 1S downward, two arms 27 areprovided pivotcd at one end to the ira me 26. Each ol these arms carriesan adjustable weight 2S.

Also the arms 2T are indepeiulently mounted so that they may be movedindividually. The lever 25 at its end away :from the rod 18 is :termedwith an integral cross bar 29 so that upward movement of either ot' thearms 27 will oscillate the lever to vlorce the rod 18 downward.

Below one of the arms 2T is a small cylin der 80 within which operates apiston to :torce a piston rod 31 and the arm 27 upward when suflicientpressure is admitted within the cylinder 30. The pressure within thecylinder necessary to raise the arm 2T above it is governed by theposition of the wein-ht 2S. To admit pressure to the lower end ot' thecylinder 30 a conduit 32 leading directlyto the disdharge conduit 12 `ofthe compressor 10 is provided. It will be seen therefore that as soon assuilicient pressure has been created within the discharge pipe 12, auarm 27 will be elevated by upward movement of the piston rod 31. Thisoscillates the lever 25 to lower the rod 1S and reduce the amount o'lIsteam admitted to the engine. The speed of the engine is thereforereduced as soon as a crit-ical pressure has been built up in thedischarge conduit 12.

Below the othe arm 2T is another cylinder 33 similar in every way tocylinder 30 and having a piston rod 34C moved bv its piston withincylinder 33 when pressure is admitted thereto. For this purpose aconduit 35 is attached to the cylinder at one end and at its oppositeend is in connection with a conduit-B6 from a pilot valve 37 to anunloader 111. The pilot valve 37 as shown is connected by conduit 38 tothe discharge conduit 12, lVhen the pressure withintlie conduit 12 issuiiicientto operate the pilot valve Si', which may be similar to thatshown in my Patent l,523,"i'l(5, granted January 20, 1925, pressure isadmitted to the intake unloader 111 to relieve the compressor of itsload. Simultaneously this pressure is admitted to conduit and to thecylinder 33 to elevate its arin 27.

Above each arm 27 is an :uljustable screw 3) suitably supported by the.trame 26 to linut the up *ard movement oit the arm 2T. T he arms 2T cantherefore be individuallyr adjusted to close the valve 1T to jiredetermined amounts.

In practice the arm 27 operated by receiver or discharge pressuredirectly through conduit 32 is adjusted to close the valve 1Tsufficiently to operate the engine at a greatly reduced speed but stillsutliciently tast to prevent it from stopping on a dead center while thecompressor 10 is still operating in its loaded or operating condition.It the discharge pressure continues to rise while the engine is beimrrun at this reduced speed the pilot valve Si, adjusted tor a slightlyhigher pressure than that necessary to operate the piston withincylinder 30, opens to admit pressure to the unloader lei. Vhen the loadis thus suddenly taken irom the compressor the speed oi the engine 11has a tendency to rise` which tendency is checked by operation ot thepiston rod lilith the compressor 10 operatingr in unloaded condition,that is, while it is idling7 the engine 11 can be run at a still furtherreduced speed without danger of its stoppinj,r on dead center. The arm27 operated by pressure within cylinder through conduit 8.) and thepilot valve 3T may therefore be set to closethe valve materially furtherthan the arm 2T operated by pressure within cylinder 30.

From the above it will be seen that three independently adjustable meansare pro-` vided to vary the position of the throttle valve 1T of anengine, one of which is operi ated by the speed of the engine and theother two by dillerent discharge pressures delivered by the compressor.One of these pressure operated means is directly operated` by dischargepressure and the other, preferu ably at a slightly higher dischargepressure is operated through a pilot valve controlling an nnloader. Inthis way the steam admitted to the engine to maintain the engineoperating at reduced speed is controlled when the compressor isoperating normally and at maximum pressure and also While operatingr inan unloaded condition. While l have described the invention as used in acompressor operatingr above atmospheric pressure it will be understoodthat the invention is equally applicable to compressors or vacuum pumpsin which the pressures are below atmospheric. j

That I claim is: j i

1. A, regulator for steam driven co1n- Uli pressoi's comprising incombination, a steam valve for admitting steam to operate saidcompressor, spe-ed operated means to control vthev movement of saidva'lve, a pilot valve 'and an unloader, two-independent pressureoperated means to control the movements vof said valve, one of saidlatter means operating through saidl pilot valve controlling-theunloader, theother said means being connected to the discharge conduitof said'v compressor, means to limit the closing ymovementofl said valveby said pressure operated means,1and means toadyu-st saidk pressureoperated means to operate at'idifferent pres,y

ysures. l l

2. A regulator for steam driven ,compressors comprising in combination,a valve for admitting steam to operate said compressor, speed operatedmeansto control the movements of said valve, a. pressure operated meansto rcontrol themovements of said valve directly connected to thecompressori.

discharge conduit, an unloader, and a supplementarypressure operatedmeans to control the movements of said valve when a maximum receiver'pressure is maintained and the unloader is operated. I

3. A regulator for steam driven comipressors comprising in combination,a valve lfor admitting steam to operate said compressor, an unloader forlsaid compressor, aypressure operated means directly connectedY to thecompressor discharge conduit to conf trol ythe movement` of 'saidvalve'at a predetermined pressure when.r the Compressor isV loadingposition. f 5. A regulator fory steam4 driven comoperating under itsload, and a supplementary pressure operated means to control the imovement of said valve When said compressor unloader is in itsunloadingposition. Y 4.1%. regulator for steam` driven oompressorscomprisingin combination, a valve for admitting steam to operate saidcompressor, an unloader for 'said compressor,

speed operated means to control'the move- `ments of said valve, apressure operated means to control the movement of said valve at apredetermined `discharge pressure VWhen the compressor is operatingunder its load, and a supplementary pressure operated means to controlthe movement ot said valve when said compressor unloader is initsunpressors comprising in combination, a valvev kfor admitting steam tooperate said Compressor, .an intake unloader for said com-v pressor, apressure operated means to control the movement of said valve at a predel WARD RAYMOND.

